Harold Ross "Lefty" Phillips (May 16, 1919 – June 12, 1972) was an American
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
,
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities ...
,
scout, and front office executive in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
. As manager of the
California Angels from
May 27, 1969, through the season, Phillips was the second manager in
Los Angeles Angels
The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...
franchise history.
Early life and career
A native of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
who was raised in California's
Central Valley, Phillips attended
Franklin High School in
Stockton. He was a left-handed
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
in his playing days but, because of a sore arm, his professional playing career consisted of fewer than five games with the
Bisbee Bees
The Bisbee Bees were a Minor League Baseball team that represented Bisbee, Arizona from 1928 to 1941. The Bisbee Bees played as members of the Arizona State League (1928–1930) and Arizona–Texas League (1931–1932, 1937–1941).
The Bees wer ...
of the Class D
Arizona–Texas League
The Arizona–Texas League was a Class D level American minor league baseball league that existed for nine seasons, from 1931–32, 1937–41, 1947–50 and 1952-54. In 1951, the Arizona-Texas loop merged with the Sunset League (based primarily ...
in
1939. With his playing days behind him, Phillips worked for a railroad and, still in his early twenties, simultaneously embarked on his scouting career by joining the staff of the
St. Louis Browns
The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...
.
After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, Phillips returned to baseball and became a highly respected scout for the
Cincinnati Reds (1947–50) and the
Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers (1952–64). As an area scout in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
, he signed
Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher
Don Drysdale,
1959 World Series MVP
In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...
Larry Sherry
Lawrence Sherry (July 25, 1935 – December 17, 2006) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed relief pitcher from 1958 to 1968, most prominently as a member of the Los Angeles ...
, and 21-year MLB veteran
Ron Fairly
Ronald Ray Fairly (July 12, 1938 – October 30, 2019) was an American Major League Baseball player and broadcaster. Combining playing and broadcasting appearances, Fairly was involved in over 7,000 major league games from 1958 through 2006.
Ea ...
for the Dodgers, among many others. Phillips also signed future Hall of Fame manager
Sparky Anderson
George Lee "Sparky" Anderson (February 22, 1934 – November 4, 2010) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player, coach, and manager. He managed the National League's Cincinnati Reds to the 1975 and 1976 championships, then added a third ...
to his first playing contract in 1953.
In
1965, Phillips reached the Major Leagues when he was named pitching coach of the Dodgers. During his first two seasons in that post, he worked with Hall of Famers Drysdale,
Sandy Koufax
Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. He has been hailed as one of t ...
and
Don Sutton
Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 23 seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakla ...
, as Los Angeles won back-to-back
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...
pennants and the
1965 World Series
The 1965 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1965 season. The 62nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers against the Amer ...
. Although the Dodgers fell back in the standings in 1967–68, after Koufax' retirement, they still boasted one of the strongest pitching staffs in the majors.
Manager of 1969–71 Angels
At the end of the
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Janu ...
season, Phillips joined former Dodger executive
Dick Walsh in the Angels' front office. Walsh was appointed
general manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
, while Phillips was named to the high-ranking post of director of player personnel. But when the Angels started only 11–28 in
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
under their longtime and original manager,
Bill Rigney
William Joseph Rigney (January 29, 1918 – February 20, 2001) was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. A 26-year big-league veteran, Rigney played for the New York Giants from to , then spent 18 seasons as the skipper o ...
, Phillips was asked to return to the field, first as a coach, and then as Rigney's replacement on May 27, despite his never before having managed in the
minor leagues
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...
or in MLB.
The Angels responded to Phillips, however, improving from sixth (last) place to third in the
American League West Division
The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams curr ...
in 1969 and then—led by batting champion
Alex Johnson
Alexander Johnson (December 7, 1942 – February 28, 2015) was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), from to , for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, California ...
—winning 86 games in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...
to again finish third. Johnson, however, was a disciplinary problem. In
1971 he was suspended by Phillips five times for lack of hustle, culminating in a season-long suspension beginning June 26, and the Angels won only 76 games. Walsh and Phillips were fired at the end of the season, and Johnson was traded. Phillips' record in 2
seasons as Angel manager was 222–225 (.497).
Phillips then resumed his scouting career with the Angels, but on
June 12, 1972, he was stricken with a fatal
asthma
Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, co ...
attack. He died in
Fullerton, California, at age 53, and is buried at the
Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery is the largest Jewish cemetery organization in California.
History
Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries, owned by Sinai Temple of Los Angeles, refers to two Jewish cemeteries in the Los Angeles metrop ...
in Los Angeles. Phillips was posthumously elected to the
Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
The Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, in Beverly Hills, California, is a hall of fame dedicated to honoring American Jewish athletes, other sports personalities, and teams from Southern California who have distinguished themselves ...
in 2000.
References
External links
Lefty Phillipsat The Deadball Era
:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Lefty
1919 births
1972 deaths
20th-century American Jews
Baseball coaches from California
Baseball players from Los Angeles
Baseball players from Stockton, California
Bisbee Bees players
Brooklyn Dodgers scouts
Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
California Angels coaches
California Angels executives
California Angels managers
California Angels scouts
Cincinnati Reds scouts
Deaths from asthma
Jewish American baseball coaches
Jewish American baseball managers
Jewish American baseball players
Los Angeles Dodgers coaches
Los Angeles Dodgers scouts
Major League Baseball pitching coaches
St. Louis Browns scouts